CORDOBA, October 18, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A pro-abortion march by angry feminists in the Argentine city of Cordoba became the scene of religious harassment last Sunday as demonstrators assaulted a peaceful group of Catholics praying in front of the Cathedral.

The feminists, who were participating in the Twenty-Second Annual National Women’s Encounter, erupted into a frenzy of obscenity and violence, throwing trash and screaming epithets at the counter-demonstrators, who stood on the steps of the Cathedral with a banner over their heads that read "Cordoba Defends Life", and depicted a baby’s hand.

The Catholics held their ground, praying the rosary and shutting their eyes as the feminists embraced each other sexually and removed their shirts and pants, exposing their genitals and chanting obscene slogans. The feminists also threw bags of red paint over the heads of the prayer group, staining the cathedral.

One girl at the cathedral, which the press identified only as "Juana", received a black eye from the incident. When she attempted to report it to the local police, she was told, "if it hurts, go to a doctor, I have a lot of work to do" and the policeman told a reporter accompanying the girl, "I decide what is a crime and what isn’t."

Juana said that the violence had been instigated by a leading organizer of the Encounter, Suzana "Suzy" Carannza, who was also reportedly involved in assaults against dissenting Encounter participants during "workshops" held to discuss issues of interest to the feminist movement.

According to the Argentine news agency Agencia Nova, "Suzy" Caranaza went from workshop to workshop with a gang of muscular women, threatening and assaulting Catholics who dissent from her views on abortion and contraception with "blows, kicks, and shoving".

The Agencia Nova reporter concluded that "this year’s Women’s Encounter in Cordoba gave evidence that the organizers are nothing more than an illicit association with the objective of aggressing against the dignity of the human person and creating insulting, discriminatory slogans against Catholicism and against anyone who is Catholic, with the excuse of ‘women’s rights’."